Summer Employment

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

5 CFR Parts 213 and 338

RIN 3206-AG21

Summer Employment

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing final

regulations to eliminate language in title 5, Code of Federal

Regulations, that places certain restrictions on agency hiring during

traditional summer months. The proposed change is part of OPM's efforts

to streamline hiring processes and eliminate unnecessary appointing

authorities. Agencies would continue to use temporary limited

appointments or student temporary appointments, as appropriate, to

appoint individuals during the summer.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 24, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Jacobs or Mike Mahoney on (202)

606-0830, TDD (202) 606-0023, or FAX (202) 606-2329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 13, 1997, the Office of Personnel

Management (OPM) published proposed rules (62 FR 1695) to eliminate the

language found in title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, that places

certain restrictions on agency hiring during traditional summer months.

In an effort to reduce unnecessary appointing authorities, we have been

advising agencies to appoint individuals during the summer months using

the appropriate competitive temporary or excepted appointment.

Therefore, the need for a separate summer employment appointment no

longer exists.

OPM received written comments from 12 agencies. We received very

few comments on the regulatory language itself. Rather, the comments

focused on the procedural information that was in the supplementary

information. Most agencies agreed that the need for a separate

appointing authority no longer existed and that they could use

competitive temporary appointments or excepted student temporary

appointments to fill their summer jobs. However, several agencies

objected to our requiring written tests for competitive appointments

made during the traditional summer months.

Appointments

OPM had previously revised its regulations on temporary employment

and streamlined the student employment programs to give agencies more

flexibility in the hiring process. Therefore, agencies may fill time-

limited appointments that occur during the summer months by using

either the temporary appointing authority in parts 316 and 333 or the

student temporary appointment in parts 213 and 302, as appropriate.

Agencies are reminded that the rules on nepotism, veterans' preference,

and career transition assistance are applicable.

Agencies should process these appointments using the instructions

in chapter 10 and chapter 11 of OPM's Guide to Processing Personnel

Actions, as appropriate. However, agencies must not use table 10-A

(Summer Appointment) of chapter 10 to document competitive temporary

appointments. Also agencies must not use nature of action codes of

chapter 11 associated with excepted service, summer appointments NTE .

Agencies must conduct open recruitment for all competitive

appointments. Agencies planning to fill one or more summer vacancies

competitively, must enter the vacancies (job summaries), as well as

full text vacancy announcements, into OPM's Federal Jobs Database. The

procedures for advertising summer jobs are the same as for all other

jobs.

Also, agencies planning to fill jobs through the student temporary

employment program are encouraged to enter the vacancies and

announcements into OPM's database.

Written Test Waivers

In the past, agencies were authorized to waive written tests

required by OPM's qualification standards for competitive appointments

that began after May 12 and ended prior to October 1 of each year.

Since our intent is to move away from appointments restricted to that

time period and toward regular temporary appointments, we eliminated

written test waivers in our proposal. Our proposal required applicants

to pass any written test required by the competitive service

qualification standards.

Several agencies had strong objections to this provision. A few

agencies stated that requiring the written tests for these short

periods would pose a tremendous administrative burden on agencies,

especially on those located in remote locations. Several agencies felt

the process was costly and time consuming. Two commenters found that

the number of available applicants is often limited because many

applicants do not perform well on the test.

In order to be responsive to agency needs, OPM has authorized

agencies to waive written test requirements for competitive temporary

appointments (including extensions) not-to-exceed 120 days. However,

agencies are still required to conduct competitive examining, as

appropriate, in accordance with part 333 of this chapter. This test

waiver applies to appointments made at any time during the year as long

as the appointment (including extensions) does not exceed 120 days.

This information will be incorporated into OPM's Operating Manual,

Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions.

Summer Rehires

Individuals appointed, including those appointed during the summer

months, under Sec. 316.402 of this chapter may be reappointed under the

conditions set forth in Sec. 316.402(b)(3)--noncompetitive temporary

limited appointments, and Sec. 316.401(d)--exceptions to the general

time limits on making temporary appointments. However, they must be

reappointed to the same type of position for which they originally

competed under the procedures of part 333 of this chapter.

Students appointed under the student temporary employment program

are not subject to the time limits in parts 316 or 213, or the

reappointment procedures in part 316. Agencies may reappoint these

students at any time, as appropriate.

[[Page 19900]]

Waiver of Delay in Effective Date

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), I find that good cause exists to

waive the delay in effective date and make these regulations effective

in less than 30 days. The delay in effective date is being waived

because agencies have begun their recruitment efforts and a delay would

result in the postponement of job offers for positions that are made

during the traditional summer season.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

I certify that these regulations will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities (including

small businesses, small organizational units, and small governmental

jurisdictions) because the regulations apply only to appointment

procedures for certain employees in Federal agencies.

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Parts 213 and 338

Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend 5 CFR parts 213 and 338 as

follows:

PART 213--EXCEPTED SERVICE

1. The authority citation for part 213 is revised to read as

follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301 and 3302, E.O. 10577, 3 CFR 1954-1958

Comp., p. 218; Sec. 213.101 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 2103;

Sec. 213.3102 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, 3307, 8337(h),

8456; E.O. 12364, 47 FR 22931, 3 CFR 1982 Comp., p.185; and 38

U.S.C. 4301 et seq.

Sec. 213.3101 [Amended]

2. In Sec. 213.3101, paragraphs (b) [reserved] through (f) are

removed; the paragraph designation in paragraph (a) is removed.

PART 338--QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (GENERAL)

3. The authority citation for part 338 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302; E.O. 10577, 3 CFR 1954-58 Comp.,

p. 218.

Subpart B--[Reserved]

4. In part 338, subpart B consisting of Sec. 338.202, is removed

and reserved.

[FR Doc. 97-10642 Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325-01-P